Starbase Maintenance

adapted from The Player Owned Starbase Guide
by Moray Darktide, based on the original guide by Paradis

Operation

The starting population is 1000 workers. It increases or decreases at usual rates depending if the food and water upkeep is met or not met.
Note that player starbases do NOT consume other commodities, so these cannot be used to increase population growth - they can be safely stored in the starbase instead.
If the population ever drops below 500 workers, the starbase downgrades back to a trade outpost, losing all structures and stored commodities in the process.
The starbase will produce energy and a secondary commodity depending on the type of field it is constructed on, with amounts produced based on population. [MECH:Starbase Construction]
Consumption and production of commodities occurs on the same cycle time as NPC starbases, every 3 hours.

Combat, Building Repairs

Finances

A starbase has its own pool of credits separate from the owner's. These credits still belong to the owner, and s/he can deposit or withdraw them whenever s/he is at the starbase.
Unlike buildings, all income the starbase earns will go to this pool, and all purchases it makes are paid from this pool.

There are some basic sources of income available to all starbases:

Each production cycle, credits equal to 20% of the population will be earned in taxes.

Any successful missions taken at the starbase will pay 10% of their reward to the starbase (mission payment is not reduced for the pilot accepting the mission). [MECH:Missions]

Any ship repairs done at the starbase pay 11% of their cost to the starbase per default. The owner is able to set higher or lower repair surcharges however (see Repair Surcharge below).

Any paint jobs provided at the starbase pay a surcharge (as set by the owner) to the starbase (see Paint Shop below).

All three of the latter forms of income apply to the owner's activities at the starbase too, so his/her local missions will pay better, his/her repairs there will effectively be cheaper, and paint jobs on his/her ship will not cost more than the base cost of a paint job.

Commodity trade and production/sale of ships and equipment are further, more complex, ways to supplement starbase income. The viability of these is very dependent on the individual starbase's location and situation.
Note that the black market (becomes available automatically at 30k+ population) remains an entirely NPC-run installation, and is in no way connected to the owner's stored commodities or credits. In the Pardus Cluster, there are no black markets. [MECH:Black Market & Dark Corner]

Docking Rights & Services

A starbase will automatically belong to the faction of its owner, no matter where it is placed. If the owner changes faction, so will the starbase.
The regular reputation-based rules for denial of services apply to visitors of the starbase. [REF:Reputation]. However, the owner's diplomacy settings take precedence over these. A pilot friendlisted by the owner can use all services regardless of reputation. A pilot foelisted by the owner cannot use any services regardless of reputation, and will have no protection on the starbase. [MECH:Friends & Foes][MECH:Contacts][MECH:Protection & Docking]
Also, pilots friendlisted by the owner can hire Fighter and Bomber squadrons at the starbase, which are used for starbase combat. [MECH:Starbase Combat]

Paint Shop

To run a paint shop the starbase owner needs an ISDC license to paint, a Premium Account, as well as at least one shipyard. A paint shop can only handle the ship sizes which the shipyards on the starbase are able to accommodate (small for size ≤ 30, medium for size > 30 and size ≤ 80, huge for all bigger sizes).

The owner's character can acquire a license to paint in the starbase's Paint Shop Settings for a one-time cost of 15,000,000 credits. This license is regulated and issued by the Intergalactic Ship Design Consortium (ISDC). Once the license is acquired, the owner is a certified ISDC ship painter, and has the life-long right to run paint shops on his/her present and all future starbases when he/she has a Premium Account running (should it run out at any time, re-opening a paint shop is possible again once the premium account is renewed). The license to paint cannot be revoked (unless the character is deleted). The license to paint cannot be transfered, resold or sold back.

If the owner has all prerequisites, he/she may run a paint shop. A surcharge may be set in the Paint Shop Settings, which denotes the profit the owner will make with each paint job. There are three available durations: Permanent paint for 2,000,000 base cost* + surcharge (Premium Accounts only), and Duration 50 days for 250,000 base cost** + surcharge, and Duration 10 days for 100,000 base cost*** + surcharge. (* or if ship price is less, then that value; ** or if (ship price)/4 is less, then that value; *** or if (ship price)/10 is less, then that value). When a temporary paint's duration is exceeded the ship's hull reverts back to its original paint (i.e. a previously applied permanent paint or the ship's default). There are several paint options provided - for all possible designs see [TWOP:Ship Paints].

Other Settings

Worker Maximum

A starbase owner may set a worker maximum to his/her starbase. This value may lie between 50,000 and 1,000,000 - not below due to game design reasons. This will set a limit to the maximum amount of workers the starbase is going to inhabit. A change takes effect after the next cycle.

Unreachable Starbase

Starbases can be marked as unreachable by their owners, for example when their starbase is sealed off from the public by military outposts, in the Miscellaneous settings of their starbase. This will display the following lines in all transport missions pointing to that starbase:

Starbase [name] is marked as unreachable by its owner.
Only accept this mission if you are sure the owner will let you access the starbase.

Or, in compact mode, just unreachable below the name of the starbase.

Repair Surcharge

The repair surcharge affects how much starbase visitors have to pay for repairs, and how much the owner will earn from them. By default, the repair surcharge is set to zero; possible values are integers between -10% and 10%.
If set to zero, the starbase will charge the same for repairs as public starbases. The owner will earn 11% of his/her visitors' repair bills in this case.If set to -10%, the starbase will charge 10% less of what public starbases are charging for repairs. The owner will earn what s/he would earn with zero surcharges, minus the amount the visitor has to pay less in this case. (So, about 1% of the visitors' repair bills.)
If set to +10%, the starbase will charge 10% more of what public starbases are charging for repairs. The owner will earn what s/he would earn with zero surcharges, plus the amount the visitor has to pay more in this case. (So, about 21% of the visitors' repair bills.)

Schedule resource drop

Commodities stored in the starbase can be scheduled to be dropped at starbase ticks.

Welcome Message

As every building owner, the starbase owner may set a welcome screen every visitor is going to see when entering the starbase. Please note that since the welcome message is displayed to all visitors, welcome messages with big or slowly loading images may drive away customers because of an aggravated usability.

Change Name

You may change your starbase's name for 5000 APs. There is a GNN news entry to every namechange.

Transfer Ownership

If you do not want to maintain your starbase anymore, you may transfer it to another player for 4000 APs. The other player needs to have one free building slot.
To transfer ownership of your starbase, you need to initiate the transfer sequence first. 24 to 25 hours after you have done so, your starbase will be transfered to the specified person. Cancelling the transfer sequence is not possible, unless your starbase gets captured!
If the chosen recipient constructs a building during the transfer sequence and has then too little experience for maintaining the starbase, the transfer will fail - so make sure to inform him/her.

While the transfer sequence is running, you cannot initiate the self-destruct sequence, and vice versa.

Self-Destruct

To self-destruct your starbase, you need to initiate the self-destruct sequence first for 1000 APs. 24 to 25 hours after you have done so, your starbase will self-destruct and cease to exist. Cancelling the self-destruct sequence is not possible, unless your starbase gets captured!

While the self-destruct sequence is running, you cannot initiate the transfer sequence, and vice versa.